Cherokee County Sheriff’s Captain Jay Baker is already facing heavy criticism for his bewildering statements, detailed in the above video from CBS News, that seemed to normalize the deadly actions of the man accused of killing six Asian women and two others at Atlanta-area spas. Now, it’s come to light that Baker has also posted disturbing and anti-Asian imagery on social media.
Buzzfeed reports that in a Facebook post from April 2020, Baker shared an image of T-shirts based off the Corona beer label that said “Covid 19 IMPORTED VIRUS FROM CHY-NA.”
“Love my shirt,” Baker wrote. “Get yours while they last.'”
NEW: Georgia sheriff spox who tried to make excuses for a mass shooting suspect … was pushing anti-Asian racist memes himself. https://t.co/xlsvT6WUoZ
— Noah Shachtman (@NoahShachtman) March 17, 2021
Baker has not commented on the Facebook post.
The Cherokee County Sheriff’s department tried walking back Baker’s comments today.
The Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office said it regrets “any heartache” that may have been caused after a spokesperson described Atlanta spa shooting suspect Robert Aaron Long as having a “really bad day” before he allegedly murdered 8 people at three spas.https://t.co/Xum4wGmnGR
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) March 18, 2021
Meanwhile, the shooting suspect faces eight murder charges and was due to appear in court earlier today, but the hearing was delayed. This comes as we learn more about the victims.
JUST IN: Picture of Xiaojie “Emily” Tan. She owned Youngs Asian Massage. She was one of four killed in Cherokee County.
Story: Friends say victim of shooting rampage at metro Atlanta spas was mother of recent UGA gradhttps://t.co/EvcoSMYHdk @wsbtv pic.twitter.com/z1xW9YU6W9
— Chris Jose (@ChrisJoseTV) March 18, 2021
The White House lowered flags at Half-Staff to honor the memories of the eight shooting victims.
Flags at the White House are seen at Half-Staff in honor of the 8 Dead in the Atlanta, Ga. spa shootings. pic.twitter.com/dd4iD5Ak5G
— Doug Mills (@dougmillsnyt) March 18, 2021
President Biden and Vice-President Harris were due to talk about their COVID-19 relief package in Georgia on Friday. In the wake of the shootings, they have canceled those events and will instead meet with local leaders in the Asian-American community.
Just in: President Biden and VP Harris will meet with Asian-American leaders in Atlanta during Friday’s visit to offer support for the community after this week's deadly spa shootings #gapol https://t.co/myP4AfUmfb
— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) March 18, 2021